Transit-oriented cities are key to solving climate change

Must “roll back” sprawl

Steve Hawley, May 14, 09.

Designing transit-oriented and pedestrian-friendly cities is key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and solving the climate crisis, according to a Foreign Policy in Focus report.

Only ten percent of the planet’s inhabitants drive cars, according to the report, but cars account for vast amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Cars have influenced city design for the last century, promoting low-density urban sprawl over great distances, which in turn required residents to drive even more.

To significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, the report says that cities must:

* Switch to a pedestrian and transit-oriented infrastructure, with ecocity architecture built around compact centers designed for pedestrians and transit;
* Roll back sprawl development while vigorously restoring nature and agriculture;
* Integrate renewable energy systems while using non-toxic materials and technologies and promoting recycling.

The report notes that some cities such as Venice, the Medina of Fez in Morocco, and Gulangyu, China are completely car-free and still very successful.

It notes, “It’s puzzling that almost no one connects the largest things we build — our cities — to the largest problems that we’re experiencing, much less connects them to solutions to those problems.”

The article also states that many cities have made progress, including Portland, Tel Aviv, Copenhagen, San Francisco, and numerous cities in China, but that much more needs to be done. Auroville, India; Curitiba, Brazil; and Arcosanti in Arizona aimed significantly higher but fell short of their goals.

The article notes:

Humanity failed to heed the lessons these pioneers offered. What we could have done by creative initiative we now must do out of necessity. Oil is running short, the climate is changing, and species are disappearing: We can no longer indulge in isolated experiments. We must redesign every city, and soon.

It also offers some suggestions for doing so, including ecocity mapping (similar to analyzing activity intensity), transfer of development rights to begin erasing sprawl, and car-free-by-contract housing.

(photo credit: David Shankbone)